Monday, 20 February 2017

Kellyanne Plugs Ivanka

Here's one of Donald Trump's top advisers, Kellyanne Conway, using a live interview on the Fox News channel to encourage viewers to go out and buy Ivanka Trump's products.Incredibly this woman is still in her highly paid, publicly funded job.

All in The Family (15/02/17)

Here's a lovely photo of a dad and his daughter.Except for the fact that the daughter is a well-known businesswomen who is exploiting his position as President by arranging a photo-shoot in the White House with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.

Americans may rue the day they allowed their 45th President to turn the presidency into a political version of 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' as the action switches from Pennsylvania Avenue to Donald Trump's private beach resort in Mar-a-Lago to Trump Towers in New York where his wife Melania still lives.And the laugh is that the bill for securing these different sites is all being met from public expense while Trump Enterprises enjoys the added bonus of free adverting and marketing for their private business interests.The 'swamp' has never been healthier.

All in the Family (30(01/17)

'All in the Family' was the American version of 'Till Death Do Us Part' which told the every day tale of a dysfunctional but likeable working class family headed up by an overbearing, narrow-minded bigot.Alf Garnett was the male lead character in the UK programme and his doppelgänger in the United States was Archie Bunker.Now there's nothing remotely working class about Donald Trump, of course, though he does appear to have certain things in common with Archie Bunker, as well as drawing inspiration from the American programme's All in the Family title.What with his daughter Ivanka moving into the White House with her dad, Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner being handed a role as a Trump adviser and Trump's two sons (Eric and Donald Jr) taking over his business interests - Trump seems to have turned the Presidency into a real family affair. Lucrative, I'm sure, but I doubt it's smart mover to have so many competing interests and family relationships surrounding the Presidency.

Donald Trump’s Plan to Isolate Himself From His Business Is a Total Sham

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news cenference at Trump Tower on Wednesday in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Donald Trump is milking the technical point that, as president, he would not be legally required to wrest himself from conflicts of interests for all it’s worth. “I have a no-conflict situation, because I’m president,” he said during his Wednesday press conference, after explaining that he just turned down a $2 billion development deal in Dubai. (An admission that raises several million follow-up questions!) This allows Trump to portray every nod toward ethical best practices—and “nod” is generous—as him going above and beyond what is required of him. We are expected to bow.

After taking a few questions on Wednesday, Trump ceded the dais to a tax lawyer, a piece of work named Sheri Dillon. Even though Trump doesn’t have to do anything to isolate himself from conflicts of interest, Dillon explained, “President-elect Trump wants there to be no doubt in the minds of the American public that he is completely isolating himself from his business interests.” She went on to explain exactly how Trump is not completely isolating himself from his business interests.

His assets “have or will be conveyed to a trust by Jan. 20.” His sons Eric and Don Jr. will take over managerial control of the company, and Trump will theoretically never talk to them about business. The company has hired an ethics adviser who will have final say over major company decisions. The company will not make any “new foreign deals” during the course of Trump’s presidency.

This is not, as Dillon promised, a “complete isolation from his business interests,” because it’s not total divestment of his business assets. She explained why they didn’t do that. “Selling his assets without the rights to the brand would greatly diminish the value of the assets and create a fire sale,” she said. “President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built.” Two things. That sounds like a Donald Trump problem, not an “us” problem. Also, he could instruct a trust to manage the sale of his assets over time, to avoid the fire sale.

The most egregious announcement from Dillon, though, was that Trump has decided “that he is going to voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotels to the United States Treasury. This way it is the American people who will profit.” It says something about how stupid of a country we are that Trump would even consider doing this and that people will probably give him credit for it.

Trump is simply setting up a funnel for foreign government donations to the government. Since that funnel runs through his hotel, it boosts the brand value of his hotel and, thus, Trump. It doesn’t prevent diplomats from choosing to stay in his hotel to curry favor with him. It will still flatter him, because he flatters easily. Also, we will never know if he even donates the money, because he doesn’t provide proper accounting documentation for anything, and it’s not clear how “foreign government payments” would be separately accounted for anyway. It’s a joke idea that does nothing and is stupid, and people will applaud it. This is a recurring theme in his life, which is unfortunately now ours, too.

Trump's Achilles Heel (29/01/17)

The map above and the countries coloured in red come under Donald Trump's new refugee ban.

Below and also highlighted in red are countries where the new American President has either tried to do 'deals' or where Trump Enterprises has existing business interests.The notable 'absentee' from the banned list is Saudi Arabia which is one of the most repressive Islamic countries in the world with with a long track record of exporting Islamist terrorists - including those behind 9/11. Since the President's announcement is not linked to any security threat and his new policy makes no sense.

Trump's Achilles Heel ((19/01/17)

I said in a recent Twitter post that Donald Trump's business interests could prove to be his Achilles heel because the President-elect seems unwilling to divest himself of his many business interests around the world.Handing things over to his sons or other family members is a bit of a joke if you ask me, since who would believe that Daddy Trump is really capable of keeping his hands off the tiller, so to speak.Everyone knows Trump can't keep his paws off Twitter for more than 10 minutes, so this may all end in tears.The BBC has come up with a list of the potential conflicts that Donald Trump will face as he assumes the office of President on Friday, and there is still time for him to wise up and the right thing.

Donald Trump: A list of potential conflicts of interestBBC US & Canada

Image copyright - REUTERS

Donald Trump's extensive, international business holdings mean he will have to make decisions as leader of the US that also affect his businesses. Here's a look at some of his potential conflicts of interest.

The Trump Organization is an umbrella company for Donald Trump's hundreds of investments in real estate, brands and other businesses.

As head of the executive branch and a business owner, he would have the ability to influence both US policy and government agencies to benefit his bottom line.

Presidents are not subject to the same conflict of interest rules as other government employees, and previous commanders-in-chief have placed their investments into a blind trust to prevent any question of corruption.

Mr Trump has said his adult sons will run the Trump Organization during his presidency, but they are also members of his transition team and have sat in on meetings with foreign leaders.

The president-elect has also said he will "be leaving my great business in total," but has not specified what this means in practice nor announced any major changes.

Below is a list of known conflicts of interest for Mr Trump, both foreign and domestic. Because his business is private, the full extent of his holdings - and the potential for conflicts - is not known.

Many of these conflicts were reported before Mr Trump won the election, but have become more pressing as his transition team begins to make decisions about his presidency.

American conflicts of interest

40 Wall Street

Image copyright - GETTY IMAGES

The Trump Organization owns the right to lease the space in this office building in Manhattan - and makes money from the rent paid to the building.

According to Bloomberg News, there are five ongoing federal investigations into current or former tenants of 40 Wall Street, mostly for securities fraud.

Those investigations are headed up by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Mr Trump will appoint a new SEC chair once he takes office.

Dakota Access Pipeline

Image copyright - GETTY IMAGES

Sioux tribes and allies have been protesting for months to prevent the Dakota Access pipeline from being built under water supplies near the Standing Rock reservation.

Trump had a partial investment - somewhere between $500,000 and $1m - in the parent company of the firm building Dakota Access pipeline, Energy Transfers Partners.

Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks says Mr Trump has sold his stock in Energy Transfer Partners. But another one of Trump's stock holdings, Phillips 66, owns a 25% share in the project.

It's unclear if the president-elect has also sold his stock in Phillips 66, as his last financial disclosure was in May.

The US Army Corps of Engineers and the interior department have delayed a decision on the future of the pipeline until they can consult further with other local communities.

Mr Trump's political appointee to head the interior department could ultimately be responsible for the decision.

Deutsche Bank

One of Trump's major lenders on his real estate projects is Deutsche Bank.

The bank is currently in negotiations with the US justice department to settle a case involving misleading buyers when it sold mortgage bonds backed by risky loans.

If Deutsche Bank does not settle by inauguration day, Mr Trump's administration would be in charge of the negotiations.

The FCC

The president-elect will have another job title beyond "commander-in-chief": executive producer. He will continue to have a "big stake" in The Celebrity Apprentice, which airs on NBC, linking Mr Trump's business interests with the network.

NBC and its parent company, Comcast, is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Mr Trump will need to appoint two commissioners to the agency.

General Service Administration

Image copyright - GETTY IMAGES - Image caption Donald Trump (C) and his family prepare to cut the ribbon at the new Trump International Hotel in October 2016

The Trump Organization leases the Old Post Office Building from US government's General Services Administration (GSA) for the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.Trump as president is both "landlord and tenant" of this building, says Steven Schooner, who along with Daniel Gordon, has called on Trump to end the lease.

The 60-year lease will likely involve renegotiations - and the person responsible for setting the rent prices would ultimately report to the head of the GSA, a Trump appointee.In addition, the lease bars any federal employee, including elected officials, from benefitting from contracts with the government.

Meanwhile. the hotel has already been pitched to foreign diplomatsas a place to stay while in Washington, raising concerns that foreign governments could see booking expensive rooms at the Trump International as a way to gain favour with the Trump administration.

National Labor Relations Board

On 3 November, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that Trump International Hotel Las Vegas - which Trump co-owns - broke the law by refusing to negotiate with a hotel workers' union.

The hotel appealed the case to a higher court. But eight other labour disputes involving the Las Vegas hotel are currently before the board.

Trump will appoint two empty seats on the five-person board after he becomes president, and the NLRB is facing an unprecedented situation on how to rule on disputes that will affect the president's business.

Secret Service

Image copyright - REUTERS

During the campaign, Trump's airplane company, TAG Air, billed the Secret Service for flying on Trump's Boeing 757 while protecting the candidate. It is standard for Secret Service to pay their own way on private aircraft, and during the campaign, this was tracked by the Federal Election Commission through campaign finance reports.

While Mr Trump will fly on Air Force One and other US aircraft as president, if Trump or Pence family members are assigned protective detail and decide to fly on Trump planes, the Secret Service would need to reimburse TAG Air - and ultimately Mr Trump - for the flights.

In addition, Secret Service will reportedly pay the Trump Organization for the space they use in Trump Tower while protecting Melania and Barron Trump as they stay in New York for part of this year.

Jason Miller, the transition team's spokesman, has said the president-elect sold all his stocks in June, a month after the required financial disclosure, but the campaign has furnished no proof.

Since his election, Mr Trump has singled out specific companies for criticism on Twitter, causing price swings on the stock market. If Mr Trump still owns these stocks, he could make money off of selling and buying before and after such tweets.Foreign holdings

According to Trump's financial disclosure, he has investments in or owns companies in at least 20 countries. Unlike his domestic business, Mr Trump could run afoul of a clause in the US constitution by continuing to profit from these deals.

The emoluments clause specifically prevents anyone who holds a US "office of trust or profit" from accepting gifts, payments or any benefit from a foreign nation.

Even routine business benefits like tax breaks would likely violate the emoluments clause once Mr Trump becomes president.

In addition to emoluments, Mr Trump's foreign policy decisions could be called into question in any country in which the Trump Organization does business, especially when his policies would benefit the firm's holdings overseas.Here are some of Mr Trump's larger business deals that intersect with US foreign policy.

BBC Monitoring contributed to this report

Argentina

An Argentine broadcaster reported that Mr Trump allegedly asked President Mauricio Macri for his support to build an office tower in Buenos Aires while on call during Mr Trump's transition period.

BrazilA waterfront property in Rio de Janeiro, branded with the Trump name through a licensing deal, is the subject of a federal inquiry after two small Brazilian pension funds invested heavily in the unfinished project, with allegations of bribery.

Update: The Trump Organization has reportedly cancelled their licensing deal with the developers in Rio. Trump lawyer Alan Garten told the AP in December this and a few other cancellations were "normal housekeeping" and not part of a strategy to reduce potential conflicts of interests.

Canada

The Trump Organization has licensing deals with two hotel towers in Canada - one in Toronto and one in Vancouver.

The Vancouver building will open in early January, but the Toronto tower is up for auction after the developer went bankrupt and was put into receivership by a Canadian judge in November.

China

The Bank of China is one of China's largest banks and also majority state-owned. It holds the title on a $950m loan for a New York Building in which Trump is a part owner. Mr Trump has previously labelled China a currency manipulator.

Another largely government-owned Chinese bank - the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China - has space in Trump Tower, paying rent to the Trump Organization.

The Trump Organization has also previously attempted to open a series of hotels in the country, and Trump Hotels chief executive Eric Danziger told a Hong Kong media outlet in October they wanted to open 20 to 30 hotels in the country in 2017.

Mr Kushner has been given a senior role inside the White House, and his lawyer told the New York Times he "would recuse from particular matters that would have a direct and predictable effect on his remaining financial interests" without giving specifics.

India

Trump has a licensing deal for buildings in Mumbai and Pune.

One of his deals is with the Lodha Group, whose founder, Mangal Lodha, is also a vice-president in the ruling government party, BJP.

Shortly after Mr Trump won the presidency, some of his Indian business partners flew to the US to congratulate Mr Trump, who took time out of transition meetings to discuss "US-India relations".Indonesia

Two building projects with Trump licensing and management deals have not begun construction in earnest but the Trump Organization continues to be part of the venture.

Mr Trump's partner on the resort projects is Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who ran for vice-president and is well-connected politically in Indonesia. Mr Hary is forming a political party in anticipation of the 2019 elections, the New York Times reports.

In addition, one of Trump's advisers, Carl Icahn, is a major shareholder of Freeport, which is looking to extend a mining contract with the Indonesia government.

Japan

Ivanka Trump sat in with a meeting with her father and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Ms Trump is currently finalising a licensing deal with Japanese clothing company Sanei International.

The firm's largest shareholder is the Japanese government through the Development Bank of Japan. Ms Trump's company says the deal has been in the works for a while, and the terms were agreed before the election.

PhilippinesPhilippines' newest trade envoy to the United States is the same man who is building Trump Tower Manila. Like many of Trump's branding projects, Mr Trump does not own the building himself, but licenses his name to the building in return for regular payments.

Trump family members have previously promoted the project, including a promotional video.

The trade envoy/business partner reportedly flew to US to hold a private meeting with Mr Trump after the election.

Saudi Arabia

During the course of the campaign, Trump created eight business ventures tied to a potential real estate deal in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Trump told Fox News earlier this year, he "would want to protect Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia is going to have to help us economically".

Update: A Trump Organization lawyer has told the AP the eight firms have been dissolved or shut and that there is "no deal" in Saudi Arabia. However, the firm could easily re-establish business ties there.

Taiwan

In September, a woman claiming to be an envoy for the Trump Organization discussed potential real estate developments in Taiwan with the mayor of Taoyuan.

The Trump Organization has denied any plans for expansion there and said there were no "authorised visits" to discuss business in the country. The Taoyan mayor's office said the woman had "authorisation documents" but did not specify what kind, the New York Times reported.

In 2008, Trump entered a licensing partnership with Turkish conglomerate Dogan Holdings, who were planning to build two residential and business towers in Istanbul's business district.

Relations between Dogan Holdings and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan have turned sour since the towers opened in 2012.

The Dogan family, also own a paper critical of Mr Erdogan.

An earlier story from Newsweek argues the poisoned relationship between Mr Erdogan and the Dogans means Mr Trump would have a direct conflict between his business interests and his relationship with a US ally.

Turkey's importance in the fight against IS and the Syrian civil war makes the stakes much higher.

Mr Trump owns two golf courses in Scotland and has recently asked Nigel Farage to oppose wind farms, not because he believed they were bad for the UK or contradicted US energy goals, but because a wind project would potentially lower the value of one of his golf courses.

"He did not say he hated wind farms as a concept; he just did not like them spoiling the views," Andy Wigmore, the Leave.EU communications director at the meeting told the New York Times and the Express.

The golf courses could also be affected as part of Brexit negotiations or a second Scottish independence referendum.

About Me

Mark is an independent consultant with a wide range of clients in the public, private and 'not for profit' sectors - both in the UK and Europe.
In a previous life, Mark spent 20 years as a senior trade union official - latterly as Unison's Head of Local Government and Chief Negotiator in Scotland. Contact Mark by e-mail at: markirvine@compuserve.com